Strangers give birthday boy £500 worth of gifts

 A teenager whose birthday presents were ruined when his family home was flooded has received more than £500 worth of presents from strangers.

Lucy Dean, 36, from Babbacombe, Devon, said about 100 people responded to an appeal for birthday cards for her son Alfie.

Ms Dean said she is "so grateful" to her community for giving her son "the best birthday".

Alfie, now 14, said the "amazing" surprise "brightened my day".

The family estimates about 100 people with no direct relation to Alfie sent him a present of some sort.

It is unclear what caused the flood but it is suspected heavy rainfall caused excessive pressure on drains.

"We lost everything on the bottom floor of our house. It was really sudden, obviously we can't live there anymore," the single mum told the BBC.

She put out an appeal on Torbay Help Hub - a Facebook group set up for community support during the pandemic - where Alfie offered help during lockdown, including setting up a pantry donating essential food and goods."[The appeal] just snowballed. People just wanted to give us everything, it was quite incredible."Alfie, who turned 14 on Friday, had to be woken up earlier than usual so he could get through all his cards in time for school. He also received cash, chocolate bars via Amazon, various gifts, and vouchers for free meals. "He was crying. There were the most amazing messages for Alfie thanking him for what he did in the community," said his mum. "It was the strangest birthday morning but it was also the best because it was quite an incredible moment for us to share." Alfie said: "I just want to thank everybody who has sent me the cards, it has really brightened my day and it's been such a brilliant birthday gift."source - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-54117841